Hi BEP, welcome
Yes, Quirky expressed it well when she said "I try not to be unhappy". It doesn't mean we are happy in the traditional sense...more like happy we aren't happy and we are surviving as we know what it's like to hit rock bottom. Scary.
Two threads worth reading for you is these use GOOGLE. Just need to read the first post-
- Beyondblue topic fortress of survival
- Beyondblue topic my comfort zone
- Beyondblue topic they just wont understand- why?
Many of us carrying mental illness have reached adulthood and not learned some things we should have learned in our childhood. We often are immature emotionally or in communication or relationships. Cognitive therapy can help but having tried all that has been given me, I've found that a balance of correct diagnosis, medication, therapy and education all play a role in any partial recovery and where I haven't recovered I've accepted as not being able to....like a physical disability.
As well as taking in those threads above you might also develop techniques to rid yourself of social situations that become a burden. Last xmas I was prepared for the first time. I had visions of previous xmas's where people are wound up, stressed over bringing their desert or salad and there I was cooking 3 roasts and vegies etc. So, when my loving daughter arrived (she has MI issues also) and she began to cry, as soon as my wife started comforting her I went straight to my room and played music for 20 minutes. I emerged and all was good including myself. This leads me to another thread
Beyondblue topic running around trying to save the world
I hope you enjoy them and start to look after yourself as number one.
TonyWK
